SD Galway 2 - 5 Limerick

Limerick defeated SD Galway by a scoreline of five goals to two in a seven goal thriller at Eamon Deacy Park on Friday evening. Neither side appeared at their best, but Limerick’s class shone through in a game that a neutral would happily enjoy watching.

Due to a knock picked up by Joe Gamble, Limerick reverted to a 4-4-2 formation, allowing James McGrath to make his first start in the First Division this season. This would turn out to be quite a fortuitous replacement after all.

The game began at a furious pace, and despite the poor playing surface, Limerick created the earlier chances. However, just as Limerick took their foot off the gas, they were punished by a well worked goal from the Galway outfit.

After a long ball forward and a knock down, the ball sat up kindly for Luke McConnell who struck a half volley into the roof of the net from twenty yards. A great start to the game for the home side, albeit, against the run of play.

Limerick were not behind for long. From absolutely nothing, Stephen Bradley looked up to see young Ronan Burke marginally off his line. He swung his right boot from all of thirty five yards and his dipping strike caught Burke unaware, as he could only parry the looping effort into the back of the net. This wasn’t to be the end of the fantastic strikes for the night.

On the half hour mark, Limerick pulled ahead. Following a failed clearance from a long throw from Rory Gaffney, James McGrath was lurking at the back post. He struck the ball into the ground and up over Burke into the goal.

While Limerick’s defence were dreaming of their half time jaffa cakes, SD Galway had equalised. A serious lapse in concentration from the entire back four allowed Mike Tierney to produce a fantastically weighted cross to the head of Enda Curran who made no mistake; putting his powerful header past Dave Ryan. Those jaffa cakes probably didn’t taste as sweet after that.

Despite entering the dressing room rather deflated, Limerick stormed into the lead just ten minutes after the restart. After some good build up in midfield, James McGrath laid the ball into Behan’s path. The frontman turned on the edge of the box and produced a powerful effort which he blasted across goal and into the far corner, out of the reach of the helpless Burke.

The travelling Limerick support had their hearts in their mouths just past the hour mark as Mike Tierney’s drilled effort was cleared off the line. Thankfully for them, their nerves would calm ever so slightly just moments later.

Substitute Cian Collins held the ball up well on the edge of the SD area, despite numerous challenges. After evading four of five tackles, Collins cheekily back heeled to McGrath who smashed home from fifteen yards to put the game out of reach for the home side.

Every club has their heroes. For Limerick, Al Finucane stands out, but in modern times, captain Pat Purcell has been almost ever-present for Limerick over the last five years. Following a poor delivery from a corner, Galway managed to hook the ball out of the box, toward Paddy Purcell; the last person in the world anyone would expect to try and volley the clearance goal wards. Despite the stereotype, Purcell soared into the air, hooking the ball viciously toward goal. The volleyed effort almost seemed to hang in the air for a moment, before looping over the arms of the SD goalkeeper. The Blues captain certainly seemed to enjoy that one.

With a final scoreline of five goals to two, and some decent open play, this division shows that it can, if only sometimes, compete with its superior in terms of entertainment value. A much needed win for Pat Scully’s men ensures Longford remain within touching distance, while SD Galway’s poor run of form continues.

SD Galway: Ronan Burke; Colm Horgan, Cian Fadden, Eric Browne, Tommy Bradshaw (James Whelan 78); Mike Tierney (Ronan Conlon 78), Luke McConnell, Mike Harty (Timmy Molloy 72), Eugene Greaney, Willie Enubele; Enda Curran.

Subs not Used: Jason Lyons, James Keane, Gerry Dolan, Charlie Burke.

Bookings: None.

Limerick FC: Dave Ryan; Shaun Kelly, Paddy Purcell, Shane Guthrie, Shane Tracy; James McGrath (Steven McGann 85), Stephen Bradley, David O’Leary, Derek O’Brien (Cian Collins 65), Rory Gaffney; Denis Behan (Garry Sheahan 81).

Subs not Used: Barry Ryan, Corie Treacy, Joe Gamble, Garbhan Coughlan.

Booked: Bradley (75), Behan (83).

Referee: Kevin O’Regan.

Attendance: 164

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: James McGrath (Limerick FC).